Tuesday, January 6, 2009

Global Review Reinvades Gaza

Israel bombed Gaza in reprisal for continued Hamas rocket-lobbing last week; now they've sent in tanks and infantry. How long has it been since the last significant Israeli action in Gaza? Not very long: in March, over 100 Gazans and 3 Israelis were killed in a heavy exchange of fire.

Since Israel hasn't come up with a new strategy to deal with an old problem, Global Review doesn't feel any pressure to update its good ideas. The Gravity Strategy we expounded last March is still a more effective, less costly, and less damaging response to Hamas recalcitrance than Israel's (continued) passive-aggression.

Gazans should learn that what goes up comes down. It should be child's play for the IDF to install rocket sites near Sderot that basically mirror Palestinian Qassam attacks - and go after the launch site, even if it's a house in a neighborhood. They can use low-impact rockets; maybe initially something like tear gas, just to prove to the neighborhood that Israel has the capability to hit right back. If the attacks persist, Gazans will learn the Gravity Principle: what goes up must come down. They'll learn that if Hamas militants fire rockets up from their street, a missile comes back down on the street 45 seconds later.

By being predictable, Israel can offer Palestinian civilians clear incentives: neighborhoods that purge militants will not be at risk of attacks. This allows Israel to appear fair and proportional without allowing deadly attacks against her citizens.

Hamas, meanwhile, deserves every last death it has suffered among its leaders and followers. They have refused a ceasefire, and consider 100 deaths among Palestinians to be a perfectly acceptable price to pay for the privilege of killing one Israeli.